Turkey has revealed interest in ordering 40 Eurofighter Typhoon fighters. According to the country’s Defense Minister, Yasar Gular, talks are underway with the United Kingdom and Spain to ‘convince’ Germany to authorize the agreement.
As happened with Saudi Arabia, Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government would have blocked the purchase. This Friday, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan arrived in Germany to meet with the leader of the European country and the matter would be on the agenda.
Turkey’s purchase of Eurofighter fighters could give a much-needed lifeline to the program, which is threatened with being completed earlier than planned.
Airbus Defense CEO Michael Schöllhorn has called for the aircraft upgrade project, known as Long Term Evolution (LTE), to be carried out.
The German executive also warned that without a firm order by 2025, there will be an interruption in production of the fighter.
The United Kingdom has been trying to convince Germany to authorize the sale of 48 Typhoons to Saudi Arabia, which has already announced that it has requested a proposal from Dassault to deliver 54 Rafale fighters.
Complex relationship with the US
The move into Eurofighter by the Erdogan administration comes amid long discussions with the US to obtain an upgrade package for the F-16 fighters and also the sale of a new batch of the aircraft with 40 supersonic jets.
President Joe Biden has sought to approve the request, but the relationship with Turkey has been troubled at least since the country decided to close a contract with Russia to receive S400 surface-to-air missiles.
Follow ADN: Instagram | LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook
At the time, Ankara was one of the partners in the 5th generation F-35 fighter program, but ended up being banned from receiving the aircraft.
